A combustor for a gas turbine is typically provided in a housing that surrounds the combustor. The combustor comprises a combustion zone or chamber. A combustible air-fuel mixture is burned in said chamber to produce hot combustion gases which flow along a fluid pathway to the turbine where they are expanded under production of kinetic energy. An end of said chamber in upstream direction relative to the fluid pathway is typically defined by a front panel that carries burner units, mixers or the like. The front panel is therefore a separation element that separates the cold side from the hot side of the combustor. Generally, the front panel is a thin plate that is supported, from the cold side, by a carrier structure that receives the front plate and further supports burner units, mixer, or igniter units. The stiff carrier structure is, accordingly, a rather massive construction on the cold side.